Wednesday, 27 March 2013
VISIT OF A DELEGATION FROM THE STATE DUMA OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
The Parliamentary Group for Cooperation with the Parliament of the Russian Federation today met with the Delegation from the State Duma of the Russian Federation, headed by Mr. Alexander Balberov, coordinator of the Parliamentary Group of the State Duma for Cooperation with the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia.
The Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the Assembly Mr. Ivan Stoiljkovic expressed gratitude to Ambassador Oleg Nikolaevic Shcherbak for his efforts for realization of the visit and for intensification of the cooperation between the two parliaments.
He expressed satisfaction from the meeting with the colleagues from a geographically distant, but at the same time a friendly and very close country in many aspects, and expressed hope that the contacts will be intensified in future.
Mr. Stoiljkovic said that small countries like the Republic of Macedonia seek protection from the big countries like the Russian Federation, and expressed appreciation for the support from the Russian Federation in all areas, adding that he hoped that this support will continue in future because of religious, cultural and historic reasons.
Mr. Balberov said that the visit is a reflection of the consistent policy of the Russian Federation towards Macedonia and expressed appreciation for the hospitality, especially because the visit comes at the time of elections in the country.
He assessed positively the meetings that the members of his Delegations have had with representatives of the Macedonian institutions and expressed satisfaction from the openness that the Republic of Macedonia is showing towards the Russian investors, and from the intensified cooperation in the field of agriculture and the increased trade between the two countries.
Mr. Stoiljkovic pointed out that Macedonia is open for cooperation with the Russian companies, as well as for development of tourism after the abolishment of visas for the Russian citizens. He also welcomed the decision of the Russian authorities to allow the Macedonian athletes to travel to Russia without visas and expressed hope that soon similar decisions will be adopted for all Macedonian citizens.
The member of the Parliamentary Group Ms. Svetlana Karapetrova expressed appreciation for the cooperation and emphasized that the gasification for the country and its inclusion in the South Stream gas pipeline are two important capital projects that will contribute to the improvement of the energy sector and that will be beneficial for the state and its citizens.
Mr. Balberov confirmed the interest of Russia in these projects which are significant for both countries.
At the end of the meeting he invited his colleagues form the Republic of Macedonia to visit the State Duma in 2014 in the framework of the marking of the twentieth anniversary of the establishing of diplomatic relations between the Russian federation and the Republic of Macedonia.